1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a joint connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electric power is supplied to electric parts from a power-supply, such as a battery. More particularly, a first harness is connected to the power supply and a second harness is connected to the electric-parts. The harnesses then are relayed with a joint connector. FIG. 16 shows the joint connector disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,455. This joint connector 101 is used with an electric part housing 102 mounted on an end of a harness at the electric-part side and a power-source housing 103 mounted on an end of a harness at the power side. The electric part housing 102 and the electric source housing 103 are fit on each other in a one-to-one correspondence.
An increase of the number of the electric-part side harnesses causes an increase in the number of the joint connectors 101, power-source side housings 103, and harnesses to be relayed. That is, as the number of the electric part housings 102 increases, the electric part housings 102 and the power-source side housings 103 keep one-to-one correspondence. In this joint connector, since one system is composed of three component parts, two systems are composed of six component parts. This is a problem to be solved.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described situation. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a joint connector that allows a reduction in the number of component parts in relaying a plurality of systems.
The invention is directed to a joint connector with a relay housing that accommodates joint terminals. The joint connector connects a first-side connector that is connected to at least one harness to a plurality of second-side connectors that are connected to a plurality of harnesses. Thus, the second-side connectors share the first-side connector, and a branch connection between the first-side connector and the second-side connectors is made through the joint terminals.
The relay housing preferably has a first and second connection portions. The first connection portion is connected to the first-side connector. The second connection portion is partitioned by at least one partitioning wall into plural parts that are connected respectively to the second-side connectors. The joint terminals preferably are installed on the relay housing in a direction from the first connection portion, and the joint terminals stride over the partitioning wall to make a branch connection between the second-side connectors that are adjacent to each other. Thus the partitioning wall is interposed between the second-side connectors.
The second-side connectors share the first-side connector. Therefore it is possible to make the number of component parts smaller than the conventional art in which the first-side connector and the second-side side connector fit on each other in a one-to-one relationship.
The joint terminal is installed on the relay housing in the direction from the first-side connector connection portion. Thus, it is possible to mount the joint terminal on the relay housing after the relay housing is molded, with the joint terminal striding over the partitioning wall.
Therefore it is possible to accomplish a branch connection of the second-side housings adjacent to each other, with the partitioning wall interposed therebetween.